By now you probably already have your favorite banana bread recipe bookmarked and memorized. You most likely won't need another banana recipe but let's be real, what's one more? Instead of making classic banana bread, I did what I always do and added a little twist. Add a little Asian influence and voila! You have a black sesame banana cake. It's different but this dessert is just as delicious as the classic version.
Black Sesame Banana Cake
Ingredients
Black sesame paste
- ½ cup black sesame seeds, toasted (72 grams)
- ½ cup honey (160 grams)
Black sesame banana cake
- ½ cup butter, softened at room temperature (113 grams)
- ¾ cup brown sugar (150 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 4 medium ripe bananas, mashed
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt, plain (56 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (296 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds (27 grams)
- 1 medium ripe banana peeled, sliced in half lengthwise
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
- Process ½ cup black sesame seeds in a food processor until finely ground. Add honey and process until mixture becomes a paste.
- Cream together softened butter with brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer for 3-4 minutes or until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add mashed bananas, yogurt, vanilla, and black sesame paste. Mix until well combined.
- Add dry ingredients including all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sesame seeds, and stir just until combined. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.
- Cut banana in half lengthwise and arrange it on top of the cake, gently pressing it in. Bake black sesame banana bread for 45 minutes - 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
**Helpful tips and common mistakes
If you're like me, you probably have a couple of spotty bananas sitting on your counter that are yearning to be eaten. The best solution? To bake them of course! (Unless you're making banana egg rolls which is another fantastic solution.) This black sesame banana cake is just as easy to make as the classic version with one extra step, making the black sesame paste.
To make the black sesame paste, you'll need the help of a food processor. Process the black sesame seeds until finely ground. Add honey for a touch of sweetness and continue to process the mixture until it becomes a paste. You can also find black sesame paste in many Asian markets.
Now it's time to actually make the snacking cake. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time until well incorporated followed by the remaining wet ingredients including the mashed bananas, yogurt, vanilla, and black sesame paste.
Now add the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. You don't want to overmix the batter or the gluten will develop and the cake can become tough. Pour the batter into a baking pan and arrange a banana split in half for a pretty topping. Bake the black sesame banana bread until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
As tempting as it is to eat the cake right away, let it cool before digging in. It's still cooking inside so we want it to finish doing its thing before grabbing a fork.
Boy oh boy was it hard to stop eating this black sesame banana cake! The black sesame paste adds just a hint of nuttiness to the bread, adding a new flavor element to this bread. Plus, it just looks so cool with the hints of black, don't you think?
For more black sesame inspiration check out these black sesame rolls!
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